Opinion India@75, Looking@100 | A land rich with the arts, where violence has no place
With the past and present as guides, I can't conjure up either a glorious image of a shining India leading the world at 100, nor a picture of total gloom and despair
I hope India at 100 will no longer term the arts “non-essential” for the well-being of the Indian people, writes Shubha Mudgal. (File Photo) 
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To imagine India at 100, I would need to refer to both my past and present as a citizen of our beloved country. I base my observations on my own witnessing and understanding of events, trends and social and political issues. With the past and present as guides, I am unable to conjure up either a glorious image of a shining India leading the world at 100, nor am I able to paint a picture of total gloom and despair. My montage of India at 100 has many black clouds hanging over it as well as a silver lining in the black clouds.
Much as I urge myself to remain optimistic, I find it almost impossible to do so as I choke on the very air I breathe. Across the country, Indians face health emergencies with air pollution at poisonous highs. With each passing year, the air quality index in cities worsens, particularly in winter, and the feeble attempts to address the issue remain largely ineffective. For India at 100, I pray for clean air that will not bring our population a step closer to poor health or worse, death. If current indicators are considered, pollution and environmental emergencies are not vote-garnering issues in Indian democracy, and therefore I would be justified in imagining that India at 100 will also be choking on poor air quality, or at best, we may get to breathe air that might not cause serious damage but only moderately damage our lungs!
Our minds and hearts too may have been seriously affected by other kinds of pollution. We are a society that is increasingly accepting, normalising and even defending violence, cruelty and injustice. We either vote those accused of heinous crimes into power, claiming that they are innocent until proven guilty, or we resort to vigilantism by attacking suspects and accused yet to be proven guilty. Is this not symptomatic of anarchy and is anarchy what will steer us towards recognition and acceptance as a superpower? I can only hope that India at 100 will stand for a zero-tolerance policy in such matters, and for that to transform into reality, it is the public at large that will have to exercise their franchise wisely. The current reality seems to suggest that we are far from coming anywhere close to this wisdom.
Not surprisingly, I look for and find hope in the arts that have nurtured me all along. The most beautiful, moving, voices and sounds of music can be heard across the country; on social media posts, on the many glitzy talent shows on television, in concert halls and baithaks. Out of the mouths of babes and artistes young enough to be my grandchildren come the most incredible taans, alaaps and compositions, some singing even as they lisp and learn to talk. Little dancers, barely 10 or 12 years of age, twirl and whirl and display remarkable poise and confidence as they leave audiences awestruck with their firework-like footwork. Instrumentalists too are no less in terms of sheer talent and virtuosity. The music I hear as I travel both physically and virtually rekindles my hopes of India at 100 being a land of incredibly rich diversity and varied artistic expression. And I have a long and varied wish list for the arts in India at 100.
I hope that India at 100 will no longer term the arts “non-essential” for the well-being of the Indian people. I hope for the arts to be integral to the education provided to every child in the country, in a manner that sensitises them and makes them reject violence, injustice and polarisation on grounds of caste, creed and language. I hope that this sensitisation will make people listen to each other with tolerance and compassion, and reduce and ultimately reject high-decibel hateful rhetoric and its unforgivable defence completely.
On a more practical level, I hope that the Government of India in 2047 will support, nourish and fund the arts in a more well-considered and realistic manner in keeping with existing and future rates of inflation. The pitiful amounts usually dispensed as grants by the Ministry of Culture and organisations like the Sangeet Natak Akademi will hopefully have been replaced by grants and budgets that are realistic, unlike current grants and funds that pay artistes meagre amounts that do not add up even to minimum daily wages. Currently, arts are taxed like any other business, even though equating art with any goods or services category does not seem justified. At the same time, the state provides grants only for non-profit purposes. Some serious reconsideration of both policies is urgently required and I write in the hope that this urgency may be addressed in the next 25 years.
I also hope that organisations and cultural entities that are supposedly “autonomous” will realise the true meaning of autonomy and act with autonomy and accountability not to the state alone, but to the arts and artistes. Currently their autonomy is open to questioning because they are funded entirely by the government. With such extreme and absolute dependence on the government, can they truly be autonomous?
Much as I rejoice in the amazing richness of our musical systems and genres, I fear that by 2047 many traditional forms of music in India may have become extinct. The deep neglect and sidelining of traditional arts remains a matter of concern for many stakeholders in the field, and it would be a pity if Indians in 2047 were forced to undertake travel to Europe or elsewhere merely to buy a tanpura or pakhawaj, or for that matter, to hear a concert of dhrupad or thumri.
The writer is a Hindustani classical vocalist. This article is part of an ongoing series, which began on August 15, by women who have made a mark, across sectors
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